One night there was a woman at the airport who had to wait for several hours before catching her next flight. While she waited she bought a book and a pack of biscuits to spend the time. She looked for a place to sit and waited. She was deep into her book, when suddenly she realized that there was a young man sitting next to her who was stretching his hand, with no concern whatsoever, and grabbing the pack of cookies lying between them. He started to eat them one by one. Not wanting to make a fuss about it she decided to ignore him.

The woman, slightly bothered, ate the cookies and watched the clock, while the young and shameless thief of biscuits was also finishing them. The woman started to get really angry at this point and thought, «If I wasn’t such a good and educated person, I would have given this daring man a black eye by now.» Every time she ate a biscuit, he had one too. The dialogue between their eyes continued and when only one biscuit was left, she wondered what was he going to do. Softly and with a nervous smile, the young man grabbed the last biscuit and broke it in two. He offered one half to the woman while he ate the other half. Briskly she took the biscuit and thought, «What an insolent man! How uneducated! He didn’t even thank me!»

She had never met anybody so fresh and sighed relieved to hear her flight announced. She grabbed her bags and went towards the boarding gate refusing to look back to where that insolent thief was seated. After boarding the plane and nicely seated, she looked for her book which was nearly finished by now. While looking into her bag she was totally surprised to find her pack of biscuits nearly intact. If my biscuits are here, she thought feeling terribly, those others were his and he tried to share them with me. Too late to apologize to the young man, she realized with pain, that it was her who had been insolent, uneducated and a thief, and not him!

Norman Gortsby was sitting on a bench hidden behind the bushes in Hyde Park. It was a warm May evening. The sun had already set and it was rather dark, but he could still make out the faces of the people who were walking past him and hear the sound of their voices. He was a philosopher, and liked sitting in the Park watching people whom he didn’t know. While he was wondering who they were and where they were going, a young man came up to the bench, gave a quick look at him and threw himself down by his side. The newcomer was well-dressed and looked like a gentleman. His face was sad and he sighed deeply.
«You don’t seem to be in a very good mood,» said Norman. The young man was silent. He only looked at Norman again and there was an expression in his eyes that Norman didn’t like.
«I really don’t know how it all happened.» he began at last, «but I’ve done the silliest thing that I’ve ever done in my life.» He spoke in a low voice, almost in a whisper.
«Yes» said Norman coldly.
«I came to London this afternoon,» the young man went on. «I had a meal at the hotel, sent a letter to my people, giving them the address and then went out to buy a piece of soap. They are supposed to give you soap at the hotel but it’s always so bad that I decided to buy some for myself. I bought it, had a drink at a bar, and looked at the shops. When I wanted to go back to the hotel, I suddenly realized that I didn’t remember its name or even what street it was in. Of course I can write to my people for the address, but they won’t get my letter till tomorrow. The only shilling I had on me when I came out was spent on the soap and the drink and here I am with two pence in my pocket and nowhere to go for the night.»
There was a pause after he told the story.
«I’m afraid you don’t believe me,» he added.
«Why not?» said Norman. «I did the same thing once in a foreign capital. So I can understand you very well.»
«I’m glad you do,» the young man said with a pleasant smile. «And now I must go. I hope by the time it gets quite dark I’ll have found a man who’ll believe me like you did, and will agree to lend me some money.»
«Of course,» said Norman slowly. «The weak point of your story is that you can’t produce the soap.»
The young man put his hand into his pocket and suddenly got up.
«I’ve lost it,» he said angrily.
«It’s too much to lose a hotel and a piece of soap on the same day,» said Norman.
But the young man did not hear him. He was running away.
«It was a good idea to ask him about the soap, and so simple,» Norman thought as he rose to go. But at that moment he noticed a small packet lying by the side of the bench. It could be nothing but a piece of soap, and it had evidently fallen out of the young man’s coat pocket when he threw himself down on the bench. Turning red, Norman picked it up.
«I just can’t allow him to go away like this,» he thought, and started running after the young man.
«Stop!» cried Norman when he saw him at the Park gate. The young man obeyed.
«Here’s your piece of soap,» Norman said. «I found it under the bench. Don’t lose it again, it’s been a good friend to you. And here’s a pound, if it can help you».
«Thanks,» said the young man, and quickly put the money into his pocket.
«Here’s my card with my address,» continued Norman. «You can return the money any day this week.»
The young man thanked him again and quickly went away.
«It’s a good lesson to me,» Norman thought, and went back to the Park. When he was passing the bench where the little drama had taken place, he saw an old gentleman looking for something.
«Have you lost anything, sir?» Norman asked.
«Yes, sir, a piece of soap».